Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling

A Sourcebook

Kalman Kaplan, Matthew Schwartz

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317787273
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Integrate Biblical spirituality into psychotherapy and examine centuries-old answers to modern psychological questions! The Joint Commision on the Accreditation of Hospitals now mandates taking spiritual assessments of all patients. This book is devoted to helping therapists employ Biblical spirituality in the actual treatment program. Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook organizes the wisdom of the Old Testament into episodes that can shed light on specific psychological issues. From the familiar to the obscure, these stories can help us better understand self-esteem, loyalty and obligations, decision making, temptation, anger, morality, various disorders, family dynamics, support systems, developmental issues, recovery issues, aging, suicidal behavior, and more. From the authors: "As brilliant and as penetrating as Freud's insights are, they are limited in the sense that Freud relied heavily on Greek myth and literature for his models and ideas. His view of man was in many ways that of the Greeks—a view that concentrated on the pathological underside of man and on the bedrock of his developmental problems. The Greeks could never really shake the sense of doom, the foreboding and the fatalism that led so many great figures in Greek literature and in real life Greek history to depression and, in a surprising number of cases, to suicide. In contrast, the focus of the Bible is far more optimistic; depression can be successfully dealt with, and suicide is a sad error that should be—and usually can be—avoided. It encourages people to hope and teaches that day-to-day human effort has a purpose and meaning and that heroism is not a fair or useful aim for man to set for himself. The Bible offers the hope of filling every moment of human life with greater meaning and feeling. "New solutions to mental health problems are always welcome. Ours is a new approach, yet a very old one. We present stories that offer a vast treasure of knowledge and wisdom about the way people think and act, and why they do so. The stories are drawn from the Hebrew Bible, a compendium whose latest books are already twenty-four hundred or so years old. Yet, through all those centuries, the basic story of man's searching and yearning has changed little. We shall concentrate on the psychological meaning of these narratives and what they tell us about how their characters dealt with challenges of family, handicap, depression, and more." You'll also find information drawn from modern clinical research that parallels the Biblical narratives. The wisdom gained from these ancient stories is applied to help people gain self-understanding and deal with their own situations today. For psychotherapists, these Biblical foundation stories can be used as a basis for integrating spirituality into psychotherapy. The story of Moses, who overcame a speech problem, can be applied to the problems of a Midwestern college student, and the account of David and Goliath can help a businessman overcome his fears of "lack of macho." A small sample of the Bible stories—and their clinical implications—that you'll find in this volume:

• the foundation of self-esteem: Saul
• the courage to emigrate: Abraham
• assuming responsibility for one's self: Lot's wife
• focusing on one's main aim: Sarah and Hagar
• dealing with commandments: Abraham and Isaac
• dealing with temptations: Adam and Eve
• drunkenness and disrespect: Noah
• reciprocity between generations: Naomi and Ruth
• amoral intellectualism: Balaam
• aging: Ecclesiastes
• dealing with disability: Moses and Aaron
• abandonment: David
• protected regression: Jonah

Biblical Stories for Psychotherapy and Counseling: A Sourcebook will become a well-used reference in your professional/teaching collection. These Biblical stories will be helpful to therapists, cle

Chapter 1
Self-Esteem: Strengths, Sources, Disabilities, and Healing

Introduction

The issue of self-esteem is central to mental health. Without a healthy self-esteem, an individual typically is unable to succeed either in love or work. In love, individuals may be afraid to express unique, even idiosyncratic, aspects of their own personalities for fear of being rejected by others. Instead they will disguise more personal expressions of self under the mask of social convention. For example, an individual with low self-esteem often may appear stilted and pompous.

The situation in work is analogous and equally constricting. Individuals may be afraid to express their own ideas and, thus, their own creativity because of their fear of criticism and their need for approval. They will be afraid to be different and thus inhibit what might be their most valuable contributions. They may be totally unable to utilize their special gifts and may be paralyzed by any imperfections or disabilities.

Many people never develop a healthy self-esteem. Indeed, it demands hard work and understanding of some concepts that people find difficult to accept. In biblical terms, one must begin by accepting the very fundamental premise that people are created by God and that God does not make mistakes. It would be a foolish and false modesty for a person to feel that God had blundered or mixed the wrong ingredients in making him or her. AH human beings are created unique and important and with the opportunity and the obligations of doing their best. Indeed, man was created in the image of God. To derogate man, including and especially oneself, is to degrade God.

The rabbis have stated that a person must believe that the entire world was created solely for his or her benefit (Sanhedrin 37a). A person's role in the world is unique and everything he or she does is very important and meaningful. People's actions may have effects on themselves and on others years and even generations later in ways they never imagined. People should not feel guilty about talents or gifts with which God has blessed them. Instead, they should thank God for the gifts and use them as best they can. For people to act as though they do not have a gift or talent that they do have is highly counterproductive and shows a low self-esteem.

Low self-esteem resembles modesty only in a superficial and distorted way. True modesty demands realistic insight into one's self and a proper respect for God and for people. It involves recognizing the limitations of mortal man's power and control while using the abilities that one does have. A man should not think of himself as slowwitted when he is, in fact, very bright, or consider himself homely when he is, in fact, of pleasing appearance. If a woman is a great scholar, she should acknowledge that fact and use her learning well. She should not insist on seeing heself as unlearned nor should she use her talents to arrogate herself above other people. To think one is less than one is, is to demean God's creation and belittle the divine image in whose form man was created.

People often seek to build themselves up by gaming honors or by accomplishments—by piling up wealth, publishing their writings, or winning ball games. In fact, no accomplishment, no matter how great or heroic, can produce self-esteem. It may produce short-term satisfaction or pride. However, true self-esteem must be based on the belief that one is created by a loving God.

Man's work in this world, whether in studying or in fulfilling what he learns, is never complete. Nor does it need to be complete. It is the work itself that is important, not the accomplishment or result. The results of the work are in God's hands. Man's job is to work—not to complete the task or achieve some self-appointed goal. To stray from this belief is to embrace deep self-disappointment. The ancient Greeks devoted themselves to victory and achievement in every area of endeavor but could never shake a deep sense of fatalism that drove many famous people to suicide. No achievement was or is ever sufficient to overcome a basic lack of self-esteem. The failure to esteem one's self, as God wants man to do, leaves man hurt and vulnerable to tragic depression and suicide.

The present chapter will focus on six biblical stories related to self-esteem, and will draw implications for clinical treatment. The first, Adam and Narcissus, deals with the basis of self-image. The second, David and Goliath, discusses the issue of recognizing the basis for one's strength, whether physical or psychological. The third, Samson and Delilah, highlights the problems of dealing effectively with special gifts one may have. The fourth, Elisha and Naaman, deals with the basis of health and the healing of disease. The fifth, Saul, describes the basis of self-esteem and how to face life's challenges. The sixth, Abraham, deals with maintaining and strengthening one's identity while immigrating to a new land.

The Basis of Self-Image: Adam and Narcissus

Biblical Narrative

A realistic sense of self helps one to deal with all situations more positively and effectively. Let us consider two classic views of self-image. One is presented in the Greek myth of Narcissus and the second in the Genesis account of the creation of the first man.

Narcissus' inability to deal with his self-image led him to a life of alienation and fleeing from reality, culminating in a wretched suicide. In contrast, Adam's self-image was based on his knowing that he was created by God and in the image of God. Biblical man, too, will deal with alienation and unrealistic ideas, but the solid base of the positive self-image helps to save him from destruction and certainly from self-destruction.

The most complete version of the myth of Narcissus comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses, a first-century Latin poem, although the original story is far more ancient. The nymph, Liriope, was raped by Cephisus, a river god, and gave birth to a son, Narcissus. She sought out the seer Tiresias to ask if the boy would live to old age. Tiresias prophesied that Narcissus would be just fine as long as he would never know himself. This sort of prediction was typical of Tiresias who is known in other myths as a deceptive man who would taunt people by telling the truth in so obtuse a manner that they would invariably misunderstand. Tiresias' prediction about Narcissus set him up for a life pattern of alienation from others and from self-knowledge as well.

Narcissus was very handsome and was sought after eagerly by admirers and lovers of both sexes, particularly the nymph Echo. However, he scorned them all, preferring a solitary life in the forest. One day he came upon a clear pool, and looking into it, fell in love with the image that gazed back up at him, not realizing at first that it was his own image. This realization finally grew upon him as he sat obsessed with the image in the pool. Feeling that he could never possess the image, he pined away until death overcame him or, in another version of the story, stabbed himself to death (Conon, 1978).

Narcissus could deal with the world, at least in a limited way, only as long as he did not need to face himself. Dealing with himself truthfully and with proper self-love should have been the beginning and the foundation of his human development. However, this had been denied him by the prophecy. He apparently had never looked into a mirror and certainly had never touched his own psyche. Emotionally underdeveloped and with no means of growing, unable to deal with others or with himself, Narcissus suffered an intense and debilitating shock when forced to confront himself.

The Genesis account of the creation of Adam is very different. God himself created the first man and expressed his love by sharing with him his divine image, i.e., something of his own creative ability. God also blessed man to "be fruitful and multiply . . ." Man is thus a unique being, the highest form of creation and especially beloved by God. Adam's beginnings were glorious and bright compared to Narcissus who began life as the child of a rape and then had to live with the obtuse and hostile predictions of the seer instead of the idea of himself as a divine image who benefited from God's blessing.

After placing Adam in the beautiful garden, God stated that "it is not good for man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). Adam will have a wonderful companion and will not have to suffer lifelong alienation as Narcissus did. Even when man erred, God still intervened lovingly and truthfully to save him. Although Adam must leave the garden and will find earning a livelihood a far tougher challenge and burden than before, man's capacity to grow and develop remained great. He could still create and think. Despite the threat to their marriage, the man and woman emerged with their relationship strengthened by God's therapeutic intervention (Genesis 3:17-21).

Clinical Implications

Unlike Narcissus who destroyed himself at his first challenge, Adam and Eve recovered from mistakes to produce the human race. They were still human beings created by God in his own image. If they would look into a pond, they would see the images of God and understand that the world continues to have meaning. What they do and how well they fare is important to God, whose images they are. People must remember, although it is sometimes hard to do, that they are special to God and that God did not commit a foolish mistake in creating them. Narcissus looked into the pool and saw nothing of this, only an alienated self who could not interact with anyone, who could not dream of pursuing wisdom or goodness, and who could not handle even day-to-day realities. He certainly had no inner resources nor did he have a God to help him recover from his mistakes.

Adam and Eve and their successors can go on, can pursue the highest goals, and can have wonderful lives despite setbacks, precisely because they never can forget the fact that they are images of God, that they are important, and that they have God's unconditional blessing and love. Several striking points emerge from the Greek story of Narcissus. First, Narcissus is the child of a rape. Second, he is promised a long life as long as he does not come to know himself. Third, he never seems to have any authentic relations with himself or anyone else. Fourth, he is looking to outside images for a confirmation that should come from within. The narrative of Adam provides a key for a clinical approach to the treatment of individuals so cut off from meaningful relationships with themselves or others. First, Adam is created by God and infused by him with the breath of life. The idea that a person is worth something no matter what the sad history of the family background cannot be emphasized enough and is stressed in Psalms 27:10, "Even though my father and mother abandon me the Lord will take me in." Second, Adam is taught about the world by God himself (Genesis 2:19-20). Third, God gives Adam a mate because he knows it is not good for man to be alone. Finally, Adam is forbidden to enmesh himself in illusory knowledge (Genesis 2:17) because it obscures his fundamental relationship with God and his search after real understanding and acceptance of self and others. While the Greek Narcissus is forbidden to know himself, Adam is commanded to know himself. This emphasis on authentic self-knowledge is central to psychological health.

Definitions of Strength: David and Goliath

Biblical Narrative

The famous duel between David and Goliath is more than the tale of the victory of a plucky young lad against a giant warrior. It is also a confrontation between two views of strength—those of the Hebrew Bible and of the Greek epic. The giant Goliath was a Philistine, the people who conquered the Gaza area about 1200 B.C.E. They were one of a group called the Sea Peoples of which different branches had overrun the Hittite Empire and much of Phoenicia and had almost destroyed Egypt at about the same time. These Sea Peoples, including the Philistines, seem to have been recipient to the Aegean tradition of Homeric style warriors. Goliath is a spiritual descendant of the Iliad's Achilles and Ajax (Homer). He is a fighter who devotes himself to the search for military glory. Fighting and winning is his life.

The Philistines and Hebrews were constantly at war. On one occasion, the Philistines invaded Israel, and King Saul gathered his army to meet them. As the two armies faced each other, the giant Goliath stepped forth from his own ranks to challenge an Israelite champion to single combat. He was huge and his armament was impressive.

In the true form of an Iliadic hero, Goliath heaped verbal abuse on the Israelites. They are "slaves" (1 Samuel 17:8). "I scorn the ranks of Israel." The Israelites are cowards. If no one comes voluntarily, let them pick one man to face the giant (17:10). It was part of the warrior's plan to frighten his opponent and to build his own reputation, similar to heavyweight boxers today before a big fight. Saul and his army were overwhelmed with fear. No one felt ready to fight Goliath in single combat, nor could they seem to develop any other strategy. They allowed themselves to be trapped in Goliath's game plan and to be demoralized.

At this point, David came to the Israelite camp, bringing food and other provisions for his brothers in King Saul's army. Goliath had been coming forth daily, morning and evening, for forty days to hurl his challenges and abuse at the Israelite army, whose morale steadily declined. David saw how terrified the Israelites were. They told David about Goliath and how he "scorns Israel," and that the king had promised to enrich the man who could defeat Goliath. The winner would marry the king's daughter, and his family would be free of taxes (17:25).

David, however, was a more original thinker, and his answer showed that he understood a certain reality that his countrymen did not. The promised rewards were not the issue to David. The question was "who will smash the Philistine and remove the humiliation from Israel, for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that scorns the ranks of the living God?" (17:26). David saw this not as a challenge match between gladiators but as a battle between the Philistine lifestyle, which failed to recognize God, and the Israelites, whose entire world was God-centered and for whom circumcision was a sacred mark of a life of special dedication. When David said this, the people could only repeat their earlier assurances of material rewards. His own brothers expressed their irritation with him (17:28). David nevertheless continued to voice his opinion and finally he was called before Saul. David offered to fight the giant. Saul did not understand: "You cannot go to fight against this Philistine. For you are an inexperienced lad and he is a warrior trained from youth" (17:33).

David replied with a story of how he slew a bear and a lion that had attacked his sheep ... "and this uncircumcised Philistine is like one of them, for he has scorned the ranks of the living God" (17:34-36). David thus expressed his belief that God rales the world, and nothing happens by chance. His fights with the animals attacking his sheep had helped prepare him for his encounter with Goliath. He convinced Saul that God was with him, and Saul reluctantly consented to allow David to fight Goliath. "And Saul said to David, 'Go and God be with you'" (17:37).

What made David think he could actually defeat this fearsome warrior? Was he delusional? Was he relying on a miracle? As a devout Hebrew, David certainly believed in miracles, yet here, David did not seem to have felt a need to change the course of nature in order to win. David understood something that the other Israelites had forgotten—the importance of the mental and spiritual element in warfare. He seemed to have correctly sized up the braggadocio of Goliath whose spirit could not match his muscles. David knew, too, the value of a slingshot in a battle, even against a heavily armed professional warrior. Did either David or Goliath know the story of the archer Paris standing in safety on the ramparts of Troy and slaying the mighty Achilles?

David picked up five stones and approached the Philistine. Goliath seemed a bit nonplussed by his challenger. While David moved directly toward him, the giant walked more hesitantly with his armor bearer in front of him. He heaped derision 011 David's youth and good looks. He was surprised and befuddled, indeed almost insulted. "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?"(17:43). Why did Goliath refer to himself as a dog? David must have sensed Goliath's inner weakness. Like many macho bullies and like the typical Homeric hero, Goliath had, in fact, a very poor self-image.

"Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the cattle of the field" (17:44), Goliath continued. David understood that Goliath was concerned about his lack of mobility under the heavy armor. He heard, too, that Goliath was befuddled, as "cattle" do not eat meat.

David replied very directly. "You come to me with sword, spear and shield, and I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel whom you have scorned" (17:45). This was not to be a battle between warrior champions but between two lifestyles. David assured Goliath that he would cut off his head and would leave his corpse "for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth" (beasts, this time, not cattle) (17:46). Victory is in the hands of God, and does not depend on military panoply. With that, David charged at a run straight toward Goliath and the Philistine army. While moving, he slung a stone at Goliath and hit him in the head, killing him.

Slingers were an important arm of ancient armies. It would not have been unusual for David to have been expert in the use of the sling. Had he missed the first shot, he probably would have had time for several more. David was not relying on miracles. He was acting on a very intelligent plan and knew exactly what he was doing.

However, this was not only a matter of the young shepherd outwitting the warrior, like the crafty Odysseus in the Iliad and the Odyssey. David's entire concept of the world was different. He understood and took seriously a higher concept of humanity. Compared to this, Goliath was a brute, who floundered in situations where he could not overwhelm his opposition with ma...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Self-Esteem: Strengths, Sources, Disabilities, and Healing
• Chapter 2. Obligations and Loyalty to Self and Others
• Chapter 3. Making Difficult Decisions
• Chapter 4. Commandments, Oaths, Parables, and Temptations
• Chapter 5. Good and Bad Anger
• Chapter 6. Various Disorders
• Chapter 7. Overcoming Family Problems
• Chapter 8. Parental Blessings, Permission, and Support
• Chapter 9. Good and Bad Development
• Chapter 10. Recovery from Misfortune, Weariness, Loss, and Disability
• Chapter 11. Suicide Prevention
• Epilogue: Freud, Oedipus, and the Hebrew Bible
• Bibliography
• Index